The Effect of Trauma Intervention on the Satisfaction of Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department: A Clinical Trial Study

BACKGROUND Patient satisfaction is a key determinant of the quality of medical care. Moreover, satisfaction can be used as a criterion for examining the adequacy of the care, health, and competency of personnel. OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to determine the satisfaction of patients receiving trauma care in the emergency department of a hospital affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. PATIENTS AND METHODS This simple clinical trial was performed on 104 patients admitted for traumatic injury to an emergency department in Iran. Given that patients frequently enter an emergency department for care, the sampling of patients in the department was done on days that were randomly assigned to the study group. The experimental group received trauma intervention in four areas from their admission to the emergency department to their discharge from the hospital, and the control group received routine nursing care. The data were collected through a questionnaire that asked for demographic characteristics and then went on to ask about patient satisfaction. The satisfaction questionnaire was completed after the trauma intervention at the end of patients' stay in the hospital. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software and descriptive statistical tests and analytical tests (independent t and Chi-square). RESULTS The mean score for total satisfaction after trauma intervention in the experimental group (45.6 ± 3.69) was significantly different from that of the control group (32.01 ± 7.78) (P < 0.001). Therefore, the levels of total satisfaction in the experimental and control group were favorable and relatively favorable, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In this study, trauma intervention increased satisfaction in patients admitted to the emergency department. Therefore, managers and personnel of hospitals and healthcare training centers are urged to implement trauma intervention in their hospitals or healthcare training centers.